JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY AND TRUTH AND LIFE - NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT BY HIM.

For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,-the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Then he continues, "If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead." And again, writing to the Corinthians, he declares, "But we preach Christ Jesus crucified; "and adds, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? " - St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter XVIII, Section 2.

The Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, Mary and John and the women at the foot of the Cross

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the earth, until the ninth hour.

Origen tell us this darkness was only in Palestine, and the neighbouring countries: for as to the words, over the whole earth, or over the whole land, we find one kingdom or empire, by a common way of speaking, called the whole earth, or the whole world. As to the cause of the obscuration of the sun; and secondly, as to the extent of its darkness. Origen tells us that the darkness was partial, and confined to Judea and the neighbouring countries, as the darkness of Egypt was only perceived in that country, and not in Gessen, where the children of Israel were. Saint Jerome tells us that the obscurity was caused by the rays of the sun being suddenly withdrawn by divine power, as was the case in Egypt. The darkness in Egypt during the Passover of Moses was due to God's protection withdrawn from that land at that time. The darkness when Christ was Crucified for us is the judgement of God upon His Son Jesus Christ, in our place. For Jesus Christ knew NO sin. He never sinned, nor could He ever.

The meaning of the Pasch of Christians.

The Book of Wisdom, Chapter 17, describes the devils and demons thrown back upon the Egyptians when the Israelites under Moses were brought out of Egypt by God for God’s purposes (to prepare a place for the Crucifixion of Our Lord for the Redemption of the whole world of those who are saved). In the same way the same false gods and goddesses that the Egyptians served and which in so doing were the reason the Egyptians sacrificed their sons and daughters to the devils and demons behind the false gods/goddesses were the spirits that killed the Egyptian children that perished when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. God does not murder children, period. The angel of death which destroyed in Egypt was one of the fallen spirits. God did not cause any of the fallen spirits to hurt anyone. God allowed the fallen spirits to do what it is their nature do to when He brought the Israelites out of the gates of hell which was Egypt. The children below the age of reason that died went to be with God for eternity, they will be resurrected with the just at the Second Coming of Christ. This principle of God allowing the innocent to be afflicted along with guilty finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s singular and only salvific Kenosis. Jesus Christ committed no sin, not ever nor could He, and was and is and only could be utterly and absolutely and completely innocent of any and all wrongdoing and sin by His very nature as the Holy and True God. The guiltless sacrificed by His own will for the guilty. Even when the innocent are afflicted by the actions and evils instigated by the fallen spirits in the world, the innocent are not possessed by those fallen spirits. The principle of all being afflicted by the evil set loose upon the world for its unrepentant sin will occur when the universal plagues are let loose upon the world. See Apocalypse 16 –

The principle of our always, for our part, protecting children is given us by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18

1 At *that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who, thinkest thou, is the greater in the kingdom of heaven?

2 *And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them,

3 And said: Amen I say unto you, *unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

10 Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, *that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

The principle of our ONLY worshipping the True God, the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is given first in the historical truth of the Garden of Eden when Christ, who is the Tree of Life commands the first man and his wife, Adam and Eve to not have anything to do with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which is Satan, the first fallen angel, nor with any of the fallen angels with Satan. Assisi of Babylon/Vatican/Rome is absolute and complete violation of that principle and is the Great Apostasy in full blown Satanic evil. Have nothing to do with the Vatican or suffer its eternal damnation in hell with it. The devil and demon worshipping pagans and the perfidious deicidal Jews are not ever any part of the Salvific action of Christ upon Golgotha/Calvary. Individual pagans and Jews if they repent of their not confessing Jesus Christ as the Immortal Son of God become flesh for our sake and sacrificed for our salvation and who confess publicly their sin of devil and demon worshipping and perfidy and deicide and who beg the Lord of all, the Lord God, the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of their horrid and abominable sins, can and will be forgiven if they do so now in this life and will enter into the only path of salvation there is as dictated by God Himself. The Church, all the faithful – there is no other meaning acceptable to God for the word Church, is commanded by God to not have anything to do with the Apostasy.

2 For while the wicked thought to be able to have dominion over the holy nation, they themselves being fettered with the bonds of darkness, and a long night, shut up in their houses, lay there exiled from the eternal providence.

3 And while they thought to lie hid in their obscure sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfulness, being horribly afraid and troubled with exceeding great astonishment.

4 For neither did the den that held them, keep them from fear: for noises coming down troubled them, and sad visions appearing to them, affrighted them.

5 And no power of fire could give them light, neither could the bright flames of the stars enlighten that horrible night.

6 But there appeared to them a sudden fire, very dreadful: and being struck with the fear of that face, which was not seen, they thought the things which they saw to be worse:

7 And the delusions of their magic art were put down, and their boasting of wisdom was reproachfully rebuked.

8 For they who promised to drive away fears and troubles from a sick soul, were sick themselves of a fear worthy to be laughed at.

9 For though no terrible thing disturbed them: yet being scared with the passing by of beasts, and hissing of serpents, they died for fear: and denying that they saw the air, which could by no means be avoided.

10 For whereas wickedness is fearful, it beareth witness of its condemnation: for a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things.

11 For fear is nothing else but a yielding up of the succours from thought.

12 And while there is less expectation from within, the greater doth it count the ignorance of that cause which bringeth the torment.

13 But they that during that night, in which nothing could be done, and which came upon them from the lowest and deepest hell, slept the same sleep.

14 Were sometimes molested with the fear of monsters, sometimes fainted away, their soul failing them: for a sudden and unlooked for fear was come upon them.

15 Moreover if any of them had fallen down, he was kept shut up in prison without irons.

16 For if any one were a husbandman, or a shepherd, or a labourer in the field, and was suddenly overtaken, he endured a necessity from which he could not fly.

17 For they were all bound together with one chain of darkness. Whether it were a whistling wind, or the melodious voice of birds, among the spreading branches of trees, or a fall of water running down with violence,

18 Or the mighty noise of stones tumbling down, or the running that could not be seen of beasts playing together, or the roaring voice of wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the highest mountains: these things made them to swoon for fear.

19 For the whole world was enlightened with a clear light, and none were hindered in their labours.

20 But over them only was spread a heavy night, an image of that darkness which was to come upon them. But they were to themselves more grievous than the darkness.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Palestine is Not a Humanitarian Issue

“The Palestinian issue is not a humanitarian or relief issue. It is highly political. Thank you all for the financial support which you presented us. The Ministry of Planning has 84 finance files, but we can not plan, implement or develop these projects because of the occupation. Therefore, we must put before your eyes that helping the Palestinian people needs to end the Israeli occupation and to establish the Palestinian independent state. Without achieving these goals, everything stays in the same place under the occupation”. This was the brief statement by Dr. Ali Al-JArbawi, Minister of Planning and Administrative Development at the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah during the opening session of seminar on assistance to the Palestinian People held at the UN Vienna.

The seminar is held under the auspices of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian, under the theme “Building institutions and moving forward with the establishment of a State of Palestine”. The opening session was headed by Zahir Tanin, ambassador and permanent representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York, head of the delegation of the committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. He underlined that the Seminar would focus on the Program of the Palestinian Authority, entitled “Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State,” also known as the Fayyad Plan. The Plan’s success would be determined by the measure of progress in the political area. At the international level, support needed to be built for the broad recognition of an independent Palestinian State. After the projected two years, that recognition could be enshrined in a Security Council resolution that would clearly determine the borders of the Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 lines.

Tanin said that the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories must be ended without conditions, what would allow the Palestinian people to establish an independent State on all territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination. The two-State solution should be based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008). Only serious and sustained international engagement would bring about a negotiated settlement of all outstanding issues and reverse the growing support for radical forces. Click on Pictures to make them bigger.

“Settlements are illegal under international law and the Roadmap calls for a full settlement freeze, including in East Jerusalem. I conveyed the position of the United Nations on these issues to Israel’s leaders” said Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary-General in a Statement which was read by Maxwell Gaylard, the deputy UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace process and United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory. Ki-moon said that the closure of access into Gaza is not acceptable, unsustainable and counter-productive. More than a year has passed since the end of the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel. While there has been a substantial decrease in violence, widespread civilian recovery has not yet begun in Gaza. Reconstruction of destroyed and damaged buildings and infrastructure remains nearly impossible due to the continuing Israeli closure and the resulting lack of materials.

Ki-moon talked about his personal visit of the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, He said: “I just returned from a tour of the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, I saw for myself the situation on the ground and the work that is being done to build the institutions of a future Palestinian state. I met with both Palestinian and Israeli leaders and discussed the political process and the path ahead.

[use Open Image in New Window to see pictures enlarged in full]

Speakers at the opening session.

During the Seminar opening session, Johannes Kyrle, Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of Austria, said in his brief that “No peace, no security, no prosperity would ever be sustainable without democratic public institutions, based on the rule of law and complemented by civil society participation”. He added: “Austria and the donor community would assist the Palestinian people in realizing their aspirations and offer full political support to all efforts towards a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something which would benefit Palestinians and Israelis alike and which would be the basis for a stable and prosperous Middle East”.

Kyrle said that “the seminar is dedicate to the crucial challenge of institution-building and establishing the Palestinian State, a task which also lays at the heart of the European Union, the Quartet, the international community had once again reconfirmed its unwavering assistance to the establishment of the State of Palestine. It has expressed its support to the plan of the Palestinian Authority, “Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State”, which aims at finalizing the process in 24 months. That was also the time period which the Quartet deemed appropriate for coming to a negotiated settlement that would end the occupation which began more than 40 years ago.

The representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Il Chul Ri, pointed out during the seminar that “many countries were calling upon the United Nations and the international community to end at once the Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip, take effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians and provide the necessary assistance to them. Israel, however, was expanding settlements and demanding a conditional peace treaty. The reason why the Palestinian problem continued to remain unresolved lay in the complicity with the Israeli occupation of the United States and a few other countries. Israel must immediately stop all its actions aimed at permanent occupation, including military operations, air strikes, settlement construction and the economic blockade.Other statements were delivered during the first, second and noon sessions of the seminar, which can be read in the UNIS press releases posted below.

My OpinionListening to the statements delivered during the introductory session of the seminar, I was forced to ask myself if I lived on the same planet as these genteel people, able to splutter so many unctuous words, calling on Palestinians to “shoulder their share of the responsibility”, to “renounce violence”, speaking about the grandiose plan of the PA to construct a new city in the West bank or to create a new bank to “help business develop”, speaking of “bettering conditions” in Palestine. The completely lacking connection between these statements and the reality on the ground could not be greater.

There is no improvement anywhere in Palestine, the truth is that the PA can and will not even offer minimal protection to the Palestinian people, they even go so far as to protect the Israeli soldiers and the squatters. Collectively, the Palestinians have been pauperized by decades of thefts and crime on the side of the invaders, not only tolerated but often copied by the PA. It is ludicrous to plan to engage in the construction of a whole city when until now the squatters have destroyed every single project of the PA, when they even concede in personal conversations that there is “no security” “no guarantees”.

The plan to create a bank to “give credit” to Palestinian businesses is also crass to say the least. It borders on perversion to let the whole society become destroyed, and then to further the destruction of the people with the help of usury. If the PA really had the best interest of all Palestinians at heart, they would find ways and means to lay claim on the considerable estates of Israel and other Zionist organizations and individuals as reparations. This is politically feasible, and it could easily be done in a way that future allies would reap handsome reward for the simple act of standing for their own interests and adhering to standing laws, national and international.

My personal experience is all I need in order to know about the PA and how far from reality are the statements which I heard today, with few exceptions. I am a refugee living in exile and without the possibility of ever returning to Palestine because the PA, which represents itself as a government of Palestine and for Palestinians, failed me in their most basic duty, which would be to protect me from internal and external enemies (Israeli occupation), and of upholding the law of the land. My relatives and friends, who still lives in Palestine, are equally witness to their failure. The members of my extended friends are mostly impoverished because the PA is unable or unwilling to contain the occupation; they are victims of crime because the PA is unable to protect them.

In politics the question of legitimacy is posed in similar situations, but in the case of the PA it is not possible to ask about legitimacy without first asking if they comprehend the reality of the situation in Palestine.

Here is the UNIS Press release

VIENNA, 24 March – The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory remained of concern, particularly in Gaza and East Jerusalem, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People in as it opened in Vienna.

Reporting on his recent trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he said in a message read by the Deputy United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Maxwell Gaylard, that “the closure [of crossings into Gaza] is unacceptable, unsustainable and counter-productive.” A durable solution required the opening of the crossings for both humanitarian and commercial goods to and from Gaza, with measures in place to end weapons smuggling. Palestinian actors must do their part by bringing an end to violence and rocket attacks and rising above partisan interests to pursue the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank.

The two-day Seminar under the theme “Building institutions and moving forward with establishing the State of Palestine” was organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and aimed at raising the profile of and garnering support for the Programme of the Palestinian Authority entitled “Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State”. The Seminar would also assess the current socio-economic situation in the occupied Palestinian territory; discuss the urgency of bringing relief to the Gaza Strip; and look into ways of mobilizing broad international assistance in support of the Palestinian economy and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

In this morning’s keynote address, the Minister for Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian Authority, Ali Al-Jarbawi, said the Palestinian Government Programme reaffirmed Palestinians’ explicit commitment to the two-State solution and the Authority stood ready to engage in final status negotiations, which should not be open-ended. The Plan was aimed at bringing real progress towards peace, recognizing that open-ended negotiations have not, and never would, bear fruit. “Palestinians cannot be coerced into co-existence with a fragmented State of leftovers – a State isolated by cantons separated by walls and checkpoints, guarded by soldiers of another State,” he said.

The two-year Programme consisted of eleven national goals on the path to realizing the vision of a peaceful and prosperous Palestine, aiming to bring equality and social justice to all its citizens and guaranteeing equal rights, freedoms and opportunities for all, free from discrimination. Important progress had been made in implementing the Programme, he said, which clearly demonstrated the ability of the Palestinian Authority to govern and deliver services. “Just imagine for a moment what we Palestinians could achieve if freed from the shackles of occupation. And imagine the frustration that we Palestinians feel at being denied the freedom to control our own destiny for so many decades,” he said.

He hoped that the international community would step up its condemnation of Israeli actions that continued to take Palestinians backwards, saying, “Despite the apparent determination of Israel to continue to hold on to occupied Palestinian land and resources, my message to you today is that there is a willing and proactive Palestinian partner for peace.”

Opening statements were also made by Johannes Kyrle, Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of Austria, the host country, and Zahir Tanin, Head of the Delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York.

Statements were also made by representatives of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, Syria and Algeria. The Observers of the League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the African Union also spoke, as did a representative of the United Nations Environment Programme.

Opening StatementsIn a message of welcome, JOHANNES KYRLE, Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of Austria, said the Seminar was dedicated to the crucial challenge of institution-building and establishing the Palestinian State, a task which also lay at the heart of the European Union. No peace, no security, no prosperity would ever be sustainable without democratic public institutions, based on the rule of law and complemented by civil society participation.

He said that through the Quartet, the international community had once again reconfirmed its unwavering assistance to the establishment of the State of Palestine. It had expressed its support to the Palestinian Authority Plan “Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State”, which aims at finalizing the process in 24 months. That was also the time period the Quartet deemed appropriate for coming to a negotiated settlement that would end the occupation which began more than 40 years ago.

He called on Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to re-engage in negotiations as soon as possible and in good faith. The Secretary-General of the United Nations had praised the quiet courage of the Palestinians and had called on them to choose the path of non-violence, unity and international legitimacy during his recent visit to the Gaza Strip, the one area with the most painful contradiction between the legitimate aspirations of a people and the failure of political efforts to improve their living conditions.

Austria and the donor community would assist the Palestinian people in realizing their aspirations and offer full political support to all efforts towards a negotiated settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, something which would benefit Palestinians and Israelis alike and which would be the basis for a stable and prosperous Middle East, he said.

In a message delivered by MAXWELL GAYLARD, Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, United Nations Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON reported on his recent tour of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel following a meeting of the Quartet Principals in Moscow, where the Quartet had reiterated its strong commitment to the two-State solution and the need for resumed negotiation to move quickly to achieve that goal.

He said the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory remained of concern, particularly in Gaza and East Jerusalem. In Gaza, reconstruction of destroyed and damaged buildings and infrastructure remained nearly impossible due to the Israeli closure. He had informed the people in Gaza that the Government of Israel had approved a number of United Nations civilian recovery projects involving water and sanitation, the repair of a flour mill, the provisions of containers to temporarily accommodate schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the completion of a United Nations housing project, among other things. That package of recovery projects, however, represented only a first step.

He said, “The closure is unacceptable, unsustainable and counter-productive.” A durable solution required the opening of the crossings for both humanitarian and commercial goods to and from Gaza, with measures in place to end weapons smuggling. Palestinian actors must do their part by bringing an end to violence and rocket attacks and rising above partisan interests to pursue the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank. In Gaza, he said he had called publicly for a prisoner exchange so that the missing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and Palestinian prisoners could be released.

While Israel’s policy of settlement restraint was a step beyond previous Governments’ positions, he said he had conveyed to Israel’s leaders that settlements were illegal under international law and that the Roadmap called for a full settlement freeze, including in East Jerusalem. He had also expressed concern at such activities as an announcement concerning holy sites in the West Bank and provocative actions in East Jerusalem such as evictions and home demolitions as well as the advancement of plans for new settlement construction. “At this critical juncture, all sides need to observe calm, show restraint and refrain from inflammatory rhetoric,” he said.

He welcomed Palestinian efforts towards reform, institution-building and development under the leadership of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad aimed at establishing a Palestinian State. “It is vital that the Palestinian Authority continue to advance this State-building agenda while striving to meet its other Roadmap obligations in full, including an end to incitement against Israel,” he said. He encouraged key contributors to Palestinian State-building to channel their assistance through the Palestinian Authority’s single treasury account.

Palestinian reform efforts had contributed to an increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 6.8 per cent in 2009, he said. Israel’s lifting of restrictions and easing of movement also represented a positive step in encouraging growth in the West Bank. A further easing of restrictions that increased the predictability of movement and facilitated trade would be central to ensuring future economic growth.

The Head of the Delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, ZAHIR TANIN (Afghanistan), underlined that the Seminar would focus on the Programme of the Palestinian Authority, entitled “Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the State,” also known as the Fayyad Plan.

That Programme called for Palestinians to unilaterally build – within 24 months – the administrative, economic and institutional foundation of an independent State in spite of the Israeli occupation and as a peaceful, constructive means to counter it. The Programme might be understood as the Palestinian answer to Israeli settlement-building by creating unilaterally positive facts on the ground that would restructure the strategic equation. The fundamental difference was that, unlike Israel’s settlement activity, the Palestinian Authority’s programme was consistent with international law. The Plan would promote, rather than hinder, prospects for a peace agreement.

Mr. Tanin said that the Plan’s success would be determined by the measure of progress in the political area. At the international level, support needed to be built for the broad recognition of an independent Palestinian State. After the projected two years, that recognition could be enshrined in a Security Council resolution that would clearly determine the borders of the Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 lines.

Noting that there was a nexus between the search for a political solution to the question of Palestine and its socio-economic underpinnings, he said that in the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation had been steadily worsening as a result of the Israeli military offensive and the continuing blockade which prevented reconstruction. In the West Bank, Palestinian access to land and resources continued to be severely impeded by a multi-layered system of restrictions. The situation in East Jerusalem also continued to deteriorate, with thousands at risk of eviction, house demolition and/or displacement.

In conclusion, Mr. Tanin reaffirmed the Committee’s position that the illegal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory must end without conditions, which should allow the Palestinian people to establish an independent State on all territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, and to exercise their inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination. The two-State solution should be based on Security Council resolution 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and 1850 (2008). Only serious and sustained international engagement would bring about a negotiated settlement of all outstanding issues and reverse the growing support for radical forces.

ALI AL-JARBAWI, Minister for Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian Authority, stressed that the Palestinian cause was not a humanitarian or a development cause, but a political cause par excellence. Conveying his thanks for the sustained financial support from the international community, he said that, as Minister of Planning, he could not do much planning because of Israeli actions.

He said that, in cooperation with donors, he was working on some 48 projects, ranging from $1 million to $1 billion yearly¬. He was particularly grateful for that support, as it came within the framework of support for the Palestinian cause. It was essential that assistance to the Palestinians basically lay in a straightforward process consisting of ending the occupation and building a Palestinian State. If that goal was not reached quickly, the details would remain unimportant.

Statements by Representatives of Governments and Intergovernmental Organizations

IL CHUL RI (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) said that many countries were calling upon the United Nations and the international community to end at once the Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip, take effective measures to protect Palestinian civilians and provide the necessary assistance to them. Israel, however, was expanding settlements and demanding a conditional peace treaty. The reason why the Palestinian problem continued to remain unresolved lay in the complicity of the United States and a few other countries with the Israeli occupation. Israel must immediately stop all its actions aimed at permanent occupation, including military operations, air strikes, settlement construction and the economic blockade.

ISHAYA EL-KHOURY (Lebanon) said his country had left no stone unturned in promoting the Palestinian cause as it had suffered along with the Palestinian people because of Israeli actions and was still harbouring Palestinian refugees. All initiatives to alleviate the situation in the Gaza Strip could not be implemented as Israel blocked all moves. He invited donors to enhance their contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which had difficulties in providing assistance to refugees in camps in host countries and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

He said the Israelis had rejected the Arab Initiative and continued their policy of illegal settlements, isolating Arab villages and towns in order to void the Arab or any other initiative. The main challenge was to speak out about the thousands of Palestinians threatened by bombing. The United Nations should help Palestinians achieve a decent standard of living by stressing the need to implement international resolutions fully in order to establish a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.

HARALD EGERER, Head of the Vienna Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said that the hostilities in the Gaza Strip had severely damaged the environment in Gaza. A UNEP expert team had been deployed to the Strip to draw up an assessment of the environmental impact of the conflict. The UNEP Governing Council had requested UNEP to help implement the recommendations of that assessment report and had invited Governments and international institutions to provide financial and other support.

He said that UNEP activities in the Gaza Strip included: providing safe water to all infants; compiling a report on key groundwater issues; and developing a hazardous waste management strategy for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Projects for 2010-2011 included: development of a national water quality monitoring system; development of a national land management strategy; preparation of the State of the Environment Report; and identification, development and implementation of a renewable energy programme.

ALI ASGHAR SOLTANIEH (Iran) said that the continuous crisis in the Middle East came from the silence of the international community on the issue of occupation of the Palestinian Territory and the ignoring of its peoples human rights. The problem of the Middle East was a lack of awareness of the root causes, including the refusal of Israel to comply with any international obligations. Although Iran was demanding the end of the occupation, it believed that resolutions of international organizations could not fully restore the rights of the Palestinian people as long as the defiance of Israel continued, supported by its allies, in particular the United States.

He said that Israel, supported by the United States at any price, had no genuine political will to help the Palestinians achieve a dignified life. The commitment of the United States was “rock solid and enduring forever”, according to the United States Secretary of State. Iran had proposed a democratic plan to solve the issue of Palestine, which included the return of refugees and the holding of a referendum among the people of Palestine, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, on the future of the country.

The Minister for Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian Authority, ALI AL-JARBAWI, said the Palestinian Government Programme reaffirmed Palestinians’ explicit commitment to the two-State solution and the Authority stood ready to engage in final status negotiations, which should not be open-ended. The five-year interim period of the Oslo Accords had expired five years ago, but facts on the ground made a viable State impossible. If more time passed, the two-State solution would be impossible to achieve. The Palestinian Authority had given itself two years to establish the institutions for a Palestinian State where Palestinians could live and work without fear of violence and would be protected from violations of human rights.

He said the Plan was aimed at bringing real progress towards peace, recognizing that open-ended negotiation have not, and never would, bear fruit. “Palestinians cannot be coerced into co-existence with a fragmented State of leftovers – a State isolated by cantons separated by walls and checkpoints, guarded by soldiers of another State,” he said. The Palestinian Government Programme consisted of eleven national goals on the path to realizing the vision of a peaceful and prosperous Palestine. The aim was to bring equality and social justice to all Palestinian citizens and to guarantee equal rights, freedoms and opportunities for all, with freedom from discrimination.

In Gaza, he said, the Palestinians sought an immediate end to the siege so that essential work could begin to lift Gaza out of its current state of poverty and desperation. The Programme was also committed to closing the gap in development and human security that had opened up between the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza as well as to the restoration of Jerusalem as a city of peace, worship and tolerance. Israel continued to execute a systematic campaign to alter the geographic, demographic and cultural character of Jerusalem and to cut it off from the remainder of the West Bank. That campaign must be brought to a halt immediately and be reversed in order to make the two-State solution viable.

The programme attached great importance to building positive relations with the international community and building a State of Palestine that would be a cornerstone of stability in the Middle East. It wanted to build a self-sufficient Palestine which, rather than being dependent on external aid and support, was able to make a real and significant contribution to political, social and economic life in the region and around the world.

The Palestinian Authority had made important progress in implementing its Programme, he said. Progress was being made in modernizing the legal framework in order to create an enabling environment for sustainable economic growth. Efforts to join the World Trade Organization were just one example of the preparatory work. The Palestinian Authority was also building partnerships with the private sector. The provision of basic social services was performing well relative to other countries in the region and around the world. Efforts were also being made towards improving infrastructure to ensure that all citizens – irrespective whether they lived in the so-called Area A, B or C – had access to roads, electricity and water networks.

He said that great strides were being made in developing efficient, effective and accountable policing services, which had already brought a welcome sense of security and stability. Legal frameworks were being reformed to ensure that the security services protected and served the citizens, while respecting their democratic rights and freedoms. The results were remarkable given the context, in which the Israeli Army restricted the movement of police, judges and civil servants.

Those achievements had clearly demonstrated the ability of the Palestinian Authority to govern and deliver services, he said, continuing, “Just imagine for a moment what we Palestinians could achieve if freed from the shackles of occupation. And imagine the frustration that we Palestinians feel at being denied the freedom to control our own destiny for so many decades.” The illegal occupation must end. There was no real need to wait for two years as the Palestinian Authority was ready now, but during that period the Authority would continue to implement its programme in order to be ready to reverse the decades of “de-development” suffered under the occupation.

He hoped that the international community would step up its condemnation of Israeli actions that continued to take Palestinians backwards. The recent decision to construct 1,600 new houses for settlers in occupied East Jerusalem was just one recent example. Settler violence against Palestinian civilians continued unchecked and unpunished.

He said, “Despite the apparent determination of Israel to continue to hold on to occupied Palestinian land and resources, my message to you today is that there is a willing and proactive Palestinian partner for peace.” The Programme was born of hope, not frustration.

Continuation of Statements

MIKHAIL WEHBE, Observer of the League of Arab States, said the Palestinian people were still deprived of their legitimate national rights and there were daily aggressions against the Palestinian people through the cruel blockade and the continuation of settlement construction. Israel was still perpetrating war crimes against the Palestinian people. It was ironic that the international community merely made lukewarm declarations about Israeli settlement policies, even though they were a stumbling block to any Israeli-Palestinian agreement. Other stumbling blocks included Israeli action in East Jerusalem.

He underscored the Arab commitment to support the Palestinians in their efforts to establish a Palestinian State according to the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. Any further Israeli actions should be brought to a halt before any more negotiations could be undertaken. Should the Israeli practices continue, all initiatives were doomed to fail? The issue of East Jerusalem should be brought before the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice. He called for an urgent meeting of the Security Council to address the conflict in all its aspects, hoping that the right of veto would not be exercised. It was high time for the international community to move forward and change its position with a view to taking practical international measures whereby Israel would be required to account for its crimes and perpetrators of war crimes would be brought before international courts.

SHAHER AWAWDEH, Observer of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said Israel was violating international law and had increased its aggression in East Jerusalem in order to alter the city’s Arab character. The complacency of the international community had caused Israel to act without any respect for international law, and the international community could no longer tolerate such arrogance.

He said the absence of a fair solution to the Palestinian question was a threat to international stability. The international community must do everything possible to stop Israeli violations and make it abide by all agreements and resolutions. The Organization of the Islamic Conference would welcome a compulsory mechanism to get Israel to conform to international will, by applying pressure including sanctions.

HASSAN LAOUAOUDA (Morocco) reaffirmed his country’s commitment to support the Palestinian people and called for an end to the blockade against them. Morocco would work towards a peaceful, sustainable and fair settlement so that there could be an independent Palestinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. As negotiations had reached a deadlock because of illegal Israeli practices in East Jerusalem, it was necessary to support the Palestinian position on the freezing of settlements with a view to begin final negotiations on the future of Palestine.

He condemned the decision of the Israeli Government to authorize construction of 1,600 settlement dwellings in East Jerusalem. That decision, he said, confirmed the strategy to isolate East Jerusalem from other Palestinian lands and separate it from any final solution.

BASSAM SABBAGH (Syria) said that, to assist the Palestinian people, there was a need to address the root causes of their suffering, namely the continuous occupation of Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan. Israel’s constant expansion, with its ulterior motive to build facts on the ground, had led to the bloodshed of innocent people. The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were living under a cruel blockade. The situation in East Jerusalem was worrisome. The continuation of illegal settlement construction and the immoral blockade in the Gaza Strip were destabilizing regional and international security. Not prosecuting the perpetrators of the crimes committed against the Palestinians allowed for the continuation of illegal Israeli policies.

KHADIJA MASRI, Observer of the African Union, said the Commission of the African Union was highly concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as a consequence of the siege of the Gaza Strip and restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Palestinians. She called upon the Israeli authorities to lift restrictions and open up all crossing points to begin the reconstruction process in Gaza. The human rights of the people of Gaza were being systematically trampled, but no investigations had been carried out to document the grave violations of human rights there. Despite all efforts of the international community to re-establish dialogue, the Israeli authorities were continuing their illegal activities regarding settlements, disregarding the peace process.

She said the African Union Executive Council had expressed its support for efforts to end the division among the Palestinian people. It had reasserted its belief that a lasting peace should involve the return of refugees and Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, including withdrawal from Syria and Lebanon.

TAOUS FEROUKHI (Algeria) said that the escalation of the illegal occupation by Israeli authorities, through the seizure of goods and houses, has destroyed any hope for a Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel must end the destruction of Palestinian society and the denial of Palestinians’ basic rights, she said. Algeria supported the Plan put forward by the Palestinian Authority towards establishing the institutions necessary for a viable Palestinian State. She proposed that the Seminar send specific recommendations to the General Assembly and the Security Council.